WASHINGTON — If you're a transit enthusiast, you may have already heard that there are some big proposals being presented at this week's Metro budget meeting for Fiscal Year 2026.
But what does it all mean?
Metro's FY2026 runs from July 1, 2025 through June 30, 2026. Here are some of the proposals Metro will go over the during the board meeting:
'Super peak' hours for Red, Silver lines
Currently, there are Red and Silver line trains every five minutes during the busiest peak hour. With the proposed "super peak" service, trains will come every 4 minutes. It may not seem like much faster, but it would add two more trains per hour.
For the Red Line, this would be implemented in both directions throughout the whole line. For the Silver Line, this is being proposed only for the "core" stations between Stadium-Armory and Wiehle, and only in one direction, heading eastbound in the morning and westbound in the afternoon.
Metro estimates it would cost them about $500,000 per line to add this extra service.
Extension of Yellow Line
Yellow Line service currently stops at Mt. Vernon Square. But Metro is proposing that half of those trains should continue north to Greenbelt.
It would provide extra service to highly trafficked Green Line stations. But Metro says half of Yellow Line trains will still have to stop at Mt. Vernon Square, because there isn't terminal capacity at Greenbelt for all of the Yellow Line trains to end up there, or enough railcar availability.
Metro estimates the extension would cost them about $6 million.
Split eastern end of Silver Line
Right now, eastbound Silver Line trains head to Downtown Largo. But now, Metro is proposing half of Silver Line trains split off at Stadium-Armory to head to New Carrollton. This would split the Silver Line between Blue and Orange line stations, evening out the service the two branches receive.
Metro says this would be helpful because Downtown Largo and New Carrollton have similar ridership. Plus, it would help connect the stations to Amtrak and MARC trains — and eventually Purple Line service, Metro says.
Metro estimates splitting the line would cost nothing.
